I’ll walk you through Django + virtual environment on Linux and Windows, step-by-step, clean and beginner-safe.

1️⃣ Prerequisites (both Linux & Windows)

Make sure Python is installed:

python --version

or

python3 --version

If it prints Python 3.x.x, you’re good.

2️⃣ Create a Project Folder

mkdir django_project
cd django_project

This folder will hold:

• virtual environment

• Django project code

🪟 WINDOWS (CMD / PowerShell)

3️⃣ Create Virtual Environment

python -m venv env

4️⃣ Activate Virtual Environment

▶ CMD

env\Scripts\activate

▶ PowerShell

env\Scripts\Activate.ps1

If PowerShell blocks it, run once as admin:

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

Then activate again.

You’ll see:

(env) C:\django_project>

5️⃣ Upgrade pip

python -m pip install --upgrade pip

6️⃣ Install Django

pip install django

Check:

django-admin --version

7️⃣ Create Django Project

django-admin startproject mysite .

django-admin startproject mysite
cd mysite

8️⃣ Run Server

python manage.py runserver

Open browser 👉
👉 http://127.0.0.1:8000/

9️⃣ Deactivate Virtual Environment

deactivate

🐧 LINUX (Ubuntu, Debian, Arch, etc.)

Create Virtual Environment

python3 -m venv env

This creates a folder called env.

Activate Virtual Environment

source env/bin/activate

You’ll see something like:

(env) user@machine:~/django_project$

👉 This means virtual env is active

Upgrade pip (recommended)

pip install --upgrade pip

Install Django

pip install django

Verify:

django-admin --version

Create Django Project

django-admin startproject mysite
cd mysite

Folder structure:

django_project/
├── venv/
└── mysite/
    ├── manage.py
    └── mysite/

Run Development Server

python manage.py runserver

Open browser 👉
👉 http://127.0.0.1:8000/

🎉 Django welcome page = SUCCESS

Deactivate Virtual Environment

deactivate
🔥 Common Mistakes (Important)

❌ Forgetting to activate venv
❌ Installing Django globally
❌ Running runserver outside project folder
❌ Using python vs python3 incorrectly on Linux

🧠 Pro Tip (Best Practice)

Managing Dependency using pip freeze

pip freeze will output the list of packages with versions installed in the current virtual environment (if activated)

We can then save that list to a file named requirements.txt for future ( so we can reinstall everything in new setup environment)

pip freeze > requirements.txt

This will make a file named requirements.txt and save the output of pip freeze that has packages and its versions

Later you can install everything with:

pip install -r requirements.txt